American Gangster: A Movie Review

Dianne here. I was at the eye doctor today trying out my new reading contact and read an interview with Denzel Washington in Reader’s Digest. In it he talked some about his current movie, American Gangster, that he wanted to show in his betrayal of a drug king that “there are consequences” to our behavior.

I didn’t see that when I saw the movie last Friday night. Instead, my husband and I agreed that Washington’s character was likable as was the cop played by Russell Crowe. In other words, we cared about what happened to these two men, who don’t even meet until close to the end of the movie. Without giving away the outcome, there are others in the movie that are not likable and do get what is coming to them. Indeed, they suffered the consequences.

I enjoyed the movie, even though it is close to three hours long, and recommend it to anyone who likes good crime drama. But because a scene towards the end was a bit too much like The Godfather, I can’t give it a High Five. Four out of Five was still worth the five dollars I plunked down.